Runner
by Elizabeth Theresa
Summary: Not even a world class spa treatment could ease what she was feeling now, because she was once again upending her life, and this time it hurt. Yes, this time it hurt like hell.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Please tell me you have this figured out by now! Bones, not, mine.

A/N: Set post "Scull in the Desert". Read and review, please!

Runner

She sat in her tiny kitchen, arms folded across the cheep wooden table, chin resting on them,hair hiding her tears from anyone who might be watching, though there was no one to see her breaking down. It was, in all actuality, one of the least comfortable positions she had ever known. She was fully aware that she could move, could easily shift into a more relaxation friendly position, but why bother? Why bother being physically comfortable when she was falling apart emotionally? Not even a world class spa treatment could ease what she was feeling now, because she was once again upending her life, and this time it hurt. Yes, this time it hurt like hell.

She had tried to understand it all morning, tried to understand why she felt so much emotion this time. It wasn't as if she hadn't done this several times before, it had become her entire adult life. Whenever she started to feel tied down she would pick up the tiny roots she had planted and move on, on to turn another town's life up side down.

No, she thought, that wasn't being honest with herself. Whenever she started to feel, really feel, in a place she picked up her mess of a life and ran. She ran to protect others from what her mother had called her, "Personal disaster", ran to keep them safe from all the pain she knew she would inevitably cause anyone who was stupid enough to truly care about her.

Not that anyone could really care about her, that was just one more thing that had been drilled into her during her childhood. "Honestly," her mother would spit, "You are one of the least likeable children I have ever had the misfortune to meet, let alone loveable." It made no difference that her mother was usually drunk when she said this, or how many toys and books her father would bring her from his travels, the words still cut and scarred. When she left that house she had promised herself she would never be the cause of any more pain, would never open herself that completely to anyone ever again. It was the reason her relationships always failed.

Until now. This time she had made friends, had allowed herself to truly care about not just one, but several other people. She had invested herself in these relationships without noticing, until that week. Hearing her best friend's voice on the other end of the phone she had realized how much she needed the other scientist. More importantly, she had realized how much her friend had come to depend on her.

That was why she was leaving now. Yes, the fact that she had left without saying goodbye would hurt her friends, but it would be better to leave now and hurt them a little than to stay. If she stayed she would be the downfall of all of them. She had already broken up her biological family, she couldn't bear the thought that she might also bring this new "family" crashing down.

It wasn't as though it had been difficult to leave her job. She had simply cornered Dr. Goodman and informed him of her decision. He had argued with her, telling her she was the best in her field and they needed her at the Jeffersonian, but ultimately he could not stop her from giving him her two weeks' notice and taking those two weeks in vacation time. The hardest bit had been convincing him not to tell anyone.

"Surely you know that they will want to say goodbye to you?"

"Yes, and that's exactly why I don't want them told." He had relented. If everything went as planned she would be well on her way to Colorado before anyone noticed she was gone.

She was startled from her thoughts by the ringing of the doorbell. That was just one more thing that was different about this move, she had never felt the need to keep so many material things. This time she had too many pictures and other items that held special memories to fit in her car, so she had called a moving company. As the doorbell rang yet again she looked around at all the half-packed boxes. She groaned, thinking that the movers must be early and realizing how much she hated people who showed up before they said they would.

She was brought back to earth by the doorbell ringing for a third time. "Okay, okay, hold on I'm coming!" she yelled as she rose. She looked through the front window and her heart sank.

"Angela Montenegro, open this door!"

A/N2: I thought Angela could use a little more representation in the world of fanfiction, so I'm planning on giving her a past and making her deal with it. I hope she didn't seem to OOC, but I don't think she is completely the happy-go-lucky person we see on the show, not all the time anyway. I haven't seen all the episodes, and though I'm aware that Angela seemed to have a good relationship with her father I don't think her mom was ever mentioned. If she was please let me know, and also chalk it up to fanfiction I guess.

Please, please, pretty please review and let me know what you think, I'll either reply to you or review one of your stories. See, win/win situation!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own "Bones," though I think it would be especially fun to own Angela. Think of the parties…

A/N: Thank you to my fantastic reviewers! To those of you who read the unrevised first chapter, my apologies for the confusion! I wanted you to wonder who was talking, but I didn't mean to get a fact totally and completely wrong! I fixed it now, you guys are so appreciated for pointing it out!

Here is the second chapter, so read, enjoy, and review please!

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The lab had been quiet all day. Not that that was unusual, Temperance Brennon was used to working, living, in silence. Even when Zach or Hogins was around it was usually nearly silent. Unless they were both there, in which case you were more likely than not to hear an extremely pointless argument about who's bug was faster.

But today was different. Zach and Hogins were off doing whatever Zach and Hogins did, as Angela would have said, "Attempting to be normal people,." And the silence of the lab reminded Tempe of the silence of an ancient tomb. No one had called all day. Come to think of it, no one had called all weekend, not even Angela. Tempe had assumed that her best friend simply needed time to process everything that had happened in the desert, but it was unlike Angela to ignore her for an entire weekend.

Tempe picked up the phone sitting on her desk and dialed her friend's familiar number. One, two, three, four rings. Tempe sighed knowing that the call would go through to voicemail. Usually she would have hung up, driven by her intense dislike of messages in general, but for some reason she felt like she needed to hear her friend's voice. some contact with the outside world seemed unusually appealing at that moment, even if it was just one of the familiar, and in Tempe's opinion too peppy, messages Angela insisted on recording on her phone.

"Hello. No one is available to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone." Tempe hung up the phone in shock. The impersonal, computer generated, message was as out of character for Angela as the weekend long silence. Even Tempe, who was accused of having her nose so firmly planted in the realm of the dead that she didn't see what went on in the land of the living, had some normal human instincts. She had come to know, and care about, Angela Montenegro over the past two years, and she could sense when something was desperately wrong with her best friend.

"Dr. Brennon?" Tempe jumped, having been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed her boss come up behind her.

"Do you need something Dr. Goodman?" She did not mean to sound cold, but then she never meant to sound cold and apparently that was how she usually came off to other people.

"I'm surprised to find you hear," he said ignoring her question. "I would have thought you, as Miss Montenegro's best friend, would be at her house."

"Why would I be at Angela's?" The young scientist felt confusion cloud her thoughts, and along with the confusion came annoyance. She had never appreciated being kept in the dark, whether that be literal or figurative.

"I was under the impression that she was leaving today, I thought you would want to say goodbye."

"Leaving, why would Angela be leaving?" The darkness was only getting thicker.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that she came to me with her resignation and requested that I not tell anyone until she left. I would have thought, however, that she would have told you."

Tempe's famous temper flared to the surface and she stood so suddenly her chair banged against one of her file cabinets. "So would I," she muttered as she grabbed her keys and ran out the door, determined to get some answers from the woman who had always wanted Tempe to tell her everything. Clearly Angela doesn't understand that trust has to run both ways for a friendship to work, Tempe thought as she sped across town. She was well aware that she was breaking the speed limit, and for the first time in her life she did not care.

The anthropologist arrived at Angela's apartment building in a record 15 minutes and had charged up all seven flights of stairs in another 120 seconds. Now she stood ringing the doorbell, feeling her heart break at the thought that she might be too late. Another push of the doorbell. Still, complete, silence. One more try, one more push of the button, because it could never be said that Temperance Brennon gave up easily.

"Okay, okay, hold on I'm coming!" Tempe's heart nearly stopped at the sound of her friend's voice. She saw the curtain to the right of the door shift aside, saw the side of Angela's face as she peered through the glass, saw the hesitation in the other woman's eyes.

"Angela Montenegro, open this door!"

A/N2: Here's the plan for this story. Odd chapters will be Angela's POV, evens will be Tempe's. (I'm addicted to the "2 sides to every story" thing.) I now have an actual plot planned out, so keep reviewing and I'll keep updating. Also, if anyone has an idea for a title for this chapter could you let me know? I drew a complete blank for this one.

Please, please, please review! As I said, turn about is fair play. You review mine, I'll review yours. Win/win situation!


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